ABSTRACT
Most people seem to agree that children have distinct tastes when it comes to consuming media entertainment. This chapter reviews how children’s media preferences develop from infancy to adolescence. The chapter consists of five sections. The first four sections focus on the specific media preferences of four different age groups: birth to 2 years, 2 to 5 years, 5 to 8 years, and 8 to 12 years. In each of these four sections, it is argued how some developmental-psychological characteristics of children predict their preferences for entertainment and media content. Why, for example, do 2-and 3-year-olds like to watch slow programs with lots of repetition, whereas 5-year-olds go for adventure? Which types of humor appeal to children of different ages and why? Why do children see through bad acting as early as the age of 8? The fifth and final section deals with some important differences between the media preferences of boys and of girls. In this section, it is explained how boys and girls differ in their preference for humor, action, violence, and romance. Finally, it provides a number of explanations for these gender differences.
